Santee Sioux Tribe opposes gambling rule change

A Native American tribe has appealed to South Dakota gambling regulators to forget its plan to remove a requirement that certain electronic wagering businesses use a bank located in South Dakota.

The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is up in arms over a proposed gambling rule change in South Dakota as it believes that it will help Bettor Racing Inc. owner J. Randy Gallo evade paying about $5 million owed to the tribe, according to the Associated Press.

In a letter to Gov. Dennis Daugaard last month, Tribe President Anthony Reider claimed that the rule change favors Bettor Racing. Reider explained that the proposed new rule will aid Bettor Racing in blocking the enforcement of what he described as a “hard fought” court judgment.

He feared that the tribe will be chasing after Bettor Racing “forever” if the state changes the rule and allowed to bounce from bank to bank. Reider claimed that Bettor Racing already took out its assets from South Dakota and that the company sources its money in North Dakota and Florida.